MLB affected by earthquake

Shock waves from an earthquake in Virginia affected baseball along the East Coast on Tuesday.

The press box swayed slightly and sent some fans toward the exits during the first game of a doubleheader between the Indians and Seattle Mariners in Cleveland.

The Washington Nationals issued a statement saying they were delaying the opening of the gates for a scheduled 7:05 p.m. ET start against the Arizona Diamondbacks while the team reviewed the situation.

Workers at Yankee Stadium felt the quake as well. The stadium was checked out and found to be OK, the team said.

Outfielder Nick Swisher was in his Manhattan apartment on the 21st floor and told ESPNNewYork.com that this "must be a crazy, windy day."

"Then I'm thinking to myself, 'I don't know, there would have to be some ridiculous amount of wind to move my building," Swisher said.

Swisher never felt an earthquake when he played in Oakland, so this was a new experience for him.

"I wasn't nervous about anything, but I was like, 'This is not right,'" Swisher said. "My TV is moving in my living room and I'm not touching it. It was nuts. It was crazy."

The Yankees are slated to host the A's Tuesday night.

As the Mariners were batting in the fourth inning Tuesday afternoon, the press box high above home plate and the third-base line moved left and right and continued for nearly 30 seconds. Fans sitting in the upper deck at Progressive Field noticed the unusual movement and weren't sure what was happening.

"It went on for at least a minute," said Betsy Hammond, who was attending the game with her husband, Tim, and their three children. "We were looking around and someone stood up and yelled, 'Is that an earthquake?' Then someone who works here came over and said they heard it on the radio."

Play was not interrupted on the field. The Indians reported no structural damage to the 43,000-seat ballpark.

The Hammonds were celebrating their son Liam's 10th birthday with his first game -- one he'll never forget.

"My first thought was, 'That's weird, I can't move this seat,'" Tim Hammond said. "I thought it was the wind. I know the stadium is made to move, but I didn't know what was moving it. I was thinking maybe they blew something up on that movie set. A lot of people got up and were like, 'We're out of here.'"

Filming for "The Avengers" is taking place on East 9th Street near the ballpark.

The 5.8-magnitude earthquake centered northwest of Richmond, Va., shook much of Washington and was felt as far north as Rhode Island and New York City.

"The odd thing was that it went on for a long time," Betsy Hammond said. "Then, the longer it went on, the more I wondered what was happening."

Even the Little League World Series felt it.

In South Williamsport, Pa., Lamade Stadium briefly rattled during the LLWS consolation game between Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Cumberland, R.I. Players from Cumberland gasped when told in an interview with reporters after their 8-7 win that there was an earthquake.

Outfielder Colin Cannata said he only learned of the quake after reading a news scroll on television.

"It started all the way in south Virginia," James Belisle whispered to teammate Christopher Wright.